Three-parent babies set to get the go-ahead

10:57 - 15 Dec 2016

Fertility doctors are today expected to get the go ahead to create the UK's first "three-parent baby" in 2017, if the Government's fertility regulator approves treatment. The procedure, called mitochondrial replacement therapy, is given to women who are in danger of passing on debilitating and sometimes fatal genetic conditions to their children. And if the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority pass the recommendations, it will allow clinics to apply for licences.

On the show today Dr David King, director of the watchdog group Human Genetics Alert, branded the research unethical and irresponsible. In the opposing corner was Dr John Zhang, head of the New York City embryonic team who led the team who produced the first three parent baby procedure.

What is a three-parent baby:

The procedure replaces a small amount of faulty DNA in a mothers egg with healthy DNA from a second woman, so that the baby would inherit genes from two mothers and one father. The idea is to prevent certain genetic diseases being passed on to children. Most experts are in favour but a handful have raised concerns, as has the Church of England